The incident occurred when Tyson, 15, was going out on a rope swing into the water at which point he panicked and held onto the rope, crashing into a large tree with substantial force, effectively rendering him unconscious.

He then fell with his face down in the water.

Friends Lui Polimeni and Lane Gordon reacted instantly in the water, dragging their injured mate onto the river bank before Lui’s mother Jenny Polimeni immediately called Triple 000.

At that point, Peter Stevens a senior member of the group who was down at the river at the time, used his experience and training with the Jugiong Fire Brigade, and did his best to keep Tyson conscious by ensuring that he remained still. Mr Stevens was talking to him at the same time he was stopping the bleeding.

The Snowy Hydro Southcare Rescue Helicopter flew Tyson to the Canberra Hospital where he had a CT scan before being given the all clear and released from hospital on Tuesday night.

Jenny was also down at the river at the time keeping an eye on the boys. She was genuinely shocked at the regrettable incident, but praised the action of the boys as well as the emergency services that arrived swiftly.

“I was blown away by how effective and amazing the emergency services,” said Mrs Polimeni. 

“It just goes to show that accidents do happen. I watched Tyson do it at least 10 times before the accident and he had no issues, but he just panicked and wouldn’t let go on that particular occasion, she said.

Just a couple of days after the event, Tyson still has a noticeable gash to the head which has three staples holding it together, but considering what might have been, it is of course very minor in the scheme of things.

“I still get a few headaches here and there, but it’s not too bad. I’ll just take it a bit easy for a while,” the youngster said.

Tyson said that he will be forever grateful to his mates and to Mr Stevens for their quick action.